Health officials in Pakistan announced on Monday that a recent case of mpox reported last week is not linked to the new strain spreading through Africa. The mpox diagnosis involved a 34-year-old man who had recently returned from a Gulf country, and further testing was conducted to determine the specific strain.
According to a statement from the health ministry, “The virus has been identified as Clade 2b.”
They clarified that the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is mainly associated with Clade 1b and that no cases of Clade 1b have been reported in Pakistan.
Mpox infections saw a significant global rise in May 2022, predominantly affecting gay and bisexual men due to the Clade 2b subclade. However, the number of cases has since decreased.
The World Health Organization recently declared the rapid spread of the Clade 1b strain in Africa as a public health emergency of international concern, the highest level of alert.
Sweden’s Public Health Agency reported its first case of the Clade 1b subclade last Thursday, marking the first diagnosis outside of Africa.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, approximately 16,000 cases have been recorded, with 548 deaths reported so far.
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